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Four Arab nations have cut diplomatic ties to Qatar – here’s what you need to know.

Who’s involved?

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced on Monday they would withdraw their diplomatic staff from Qatar, further deepening a rift between the Gulf Arab nations over the country’s support for Islamist groups.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani (Osama Faisal/AP)

How does Qatar support Islamist groups?

Bahrain blamed Qatar’s “media incitement, support for armed terrorist activities and funding linked to Iranian groups to carry out sabotage and spreading chaos in Bahrain” for its decision to cut ties.

The countries are most worried about Qatar’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood – a Sunni Islamist political group outlawed by both Saudi Arabia and the UAE as it challenges those nations’ hereditary rule.

Qatar has strongly denied funding extremist groups but remains a key financial patron of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and has been the home of exiled Hamas official Khaled Mashaal since 2012. Western officials have also accused Qatar of allowing or even encouraging funding of Sunni extremists like al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, once known as the Nusra Front.

A Qatar Airways Airbus A380-861 plane (Steve Parsons/PA)

It comes after Qatar claimed in late May that hackers took over the site of its state-run news agency and published what it called fake comments from its ruling emir about Iran and Israel.

David Cameron agreed to an inquiry into foreign funding of Islamist extremists in 2015, as part of a deal with the Liberal Democrats in return for their support on the extension of air strikes into Syria.

Reports last week suggested that the report may never be published because of the sensitivity of its findings regarding Saudi Arabia, though the Home Office said a decision on its release would be made after the election.

Farron wrote in the Guardian: “Theresa May talks of the need to have some difficult and sometimes embarrassing conversations. That should include exposing and rooting out the source funding of terror, even if it means difficult and embarrassing conversations with those like Saudi Arabia that the Government claims are our allies.”

Does Qatar have any ties to Britain?

Theresa May meets Emir of Qatar in December (Carl Court/PA)

Qatar has invested £40 billion in the UK.

It owns Harrods and has a 95% stake in the Shard, London’s tallest building, as well as having a stake in Canary Wharf and the Olympic Stadium.

The state announced a further £5 billion of investment in the UK earlier this year.